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Brazilian Profile: Zuzu Angel, in Memoriam Posted by on Apr 14, 2008

Zuzu Angel was a famous Brazilian fashion designer in the 1970s. Born in Minas Gerais in 1921, she lived in Bahia during her childhood and then moved to Rio de Janeiro, where she began her career. Her clothes were influenced by Bahian culture, with vivid colors and splashy designs, and they eventually became so successful…

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Let’s go shopping! Posted by on Apr 10, 2008

This week, the São Paulo Jockey Club was the host of a major bazaar and auction — the sale of the worldly goods of one of the world’s most infamous drug traffickers, a Colombian by the name of Juan Carlos Ramirez Abadia. He was arrested in Brazil last year, and is currently convicted to thirty…

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Rio de Janeiro to open largest aquarium in Latin America Posted by on Apr 10, 2008

Globo reported that plans are underway to build AquaRio, the largest aquarium in Latin America, one year from now. The construction will take about 20 months. The aquarium will contain 5.4 million liters of water, which is 0.4 million more liters of water than the current largest aquarium in the region, in Mexico. The institution…

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Poor thing! Posted by on Apr 9, 2008

The word for “poor thing” in Portuguese is coitado, which to the English-speaking ear may sound a bit odd, but don’t worry–it’s not a bad word. We use coitado for males and coitada for females, and add an –inho or –inha if we want to say “poor little thing.” For example: Ele está com dengue…

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Brazilian Profile: Zezé Di Camargo & Luciano Posted by on Apr 8, 2008

Zezé Di Camargo and Luciano are brothers, the sons of a poor farmer from Goiás state. Their father’s greatest wish was for his sons to grow up to be famous musicians. And indeed, they did. They are now two of the most famous and beloved singers in Brazil, and some of the highest-earning as well…

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Podcast: Using slang on the phone Posted by on Apr 7, 2008

The feature of today’s podcast is to work on how to use girias, or slang, in a phone conversation. The phone conversation in the podcast contains slang, most or all of which you will hear when a Brazilian man uses the phone to call a friend, especially in Rio de Janeiro. Click to hear the…

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Rare Species of Parakeet Spotted in Downtown Rio Posted by on Apr 4, 2008

Today, a four month-old rare species of wild parakeet was spotted in a tree outside of Central Station in downtown Rio, the equivalent of New York’s Grand Central Station. It’s one of the most polluted, urbanized and busiest parts of the city, but the aratinga (parakeet) of the Jandaia species was spotted eating his breakfast…

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